Williamson's Sapsucker 231 



measuring about "90 x '67, are laid on the wood chips 

 at the bottom of the hole, between June 1st and 15th. 

 If the nest is disturbed or robbed, a second set will be 

 found in another site near by, about ten or fifteen days 

 later. Gale only found one or two nests in dead stumps, 

 but Morrison states that near Fort Lewis cotton-wood 

 stumps along the river were much preferred. 



Williamson's Sapsucker. Sphyrapicus thyroideus. 



A.O.U. Checklist no 404— Colorado Records— Allen 72, p. 158 

 (S. williamaoni) ; Trippe 74, p. 289 ; Henshaw 74, p. 242 ; 75, p. 394 ; 

 Scott 79, p. 95 ; Tresz 81, p. 186 ; Allen & Brewster 83, p. 196 : Drew 

 85, p. 17 ; Bendire 88, p. 235 ; 92, p. 97 ; Morrison 89, p. 68 ; Kellogg 

 90, p. 87 ; Lowe 94, p. 268 ; McGregor 97, p. 38 ; Cooke 97, pp. 84, 207 ; 

 Keysor 02, pp. 76-79 ; Henderson 03, p. 107 ; 09, p. 231 ; Rockwell 

 08, p. 164. 



Description. — Male — Above black, more glossy on the crown and 

 middle of the back, more dusky on the wings and tail ; a postocular 

 stripe and another from the base of the bill below the eye, a few spots 

 on the wing-quills, a large patch on the coverts, and the upper tail- 

 coverts all white ; below, a narrow patch on the throat red, sides 

 of the throat and breast black, centre of the belly yellow, flanks and 

 imder tail-coverts mottled black and white ; iris reddish-brown, bill 

 slaty, legs greyish-green. Length 8-0 ; wing 5-5 ; tail 3-3 ; culmen -9 ; 

 tarsus -8. 



The female is very different. Above regularly barred with black 

 and white to brownish-white, the crown-hair brown, and the upper 

 tail-coverts white ; below also barred, but the belly yellow as in the 

 male, and a shield-shaped area on the chest black ; sometimes a little 

 red on the throat. The young male is like the adult male, but has a 

 white throat-patch and no red ; the young female is like the adult female, 

 but has the crown and breast barred like the rest of the body. 



Distribution. — Breeding in the Rocky Mountains region from southern 

 British Columbia to southern California and New Mexico, chiefly in the 

 mountains ; wintering in western Texas and Mexico as far as Jalisco. 



In Colorado this Sapsucker is a far from uncommon summer resident, 

 breeding in the mountains at from about 7,000 to 10,000 feet. At lower 

 levels it is only a migrant. Breeding records are : Estes Park 7,000 

 to 8,000 feet, W. G. Smith (Bendire), Boulder eo, 8,000 to 10,000 feet 

 (Gale), Idaho Springs (Trippe), Pikes Peak at 8,400 feet (Keyser), 

 Breckenridge (Carter), Twin Lakes (Scott), and Fort Garland at 10,000 

 feet (Henshaw). On migration it was noticed by Allen and Brewster 



